butterflyuk

I was hoping to make my visit to London an all rounder one; social as well as business. I planned to set off on an earlier train so that I can get it all done on Thursday because Friday was an all day meeting. My plan was to get a bit of shopping in, spend a few hours with someone I have been promising to see for the last year and a half, get my short meeting over before catching a theatre show in the evening. Perfect itinerary I thought.

As things go, there was a chaos at work first thing in the morning so I had to stay and sort it out. I started later than I intended. As the train left Manchester I thought my plan could still work. I got stuck into reading the papers for the meeting. About an hour later the train stopped. First no one knew why we stopped. As time went by there was an announcement that there were some problems ahead and we will be delayed. More time went by without any information. I had a text from my office that BBC news said there was a mini tornado and hale storms in London. I thought that fits in the jigsaw puzzle. Someone in the compartment downloaded the news on their mobile and confirmed. What was most frustrating was the lack of information on the train.

Generally it irritates me when hundreds of meaningless mobile phone conversations are going on in the train but in this instance it was helpful to have a mobile. Nevertheless don't you agree life was peaceful a few years ago without all these mobile phones? (says the one who has a phone hanging on her neck 24/7).

Canteen on the train was virtually run out of everything with bored people eating and drinking to keep warm. Eventually we were told that some overhead cables have been damaged further on so we need to conserve electricity and the lights and heating was turned off. We sat there for three hours. No lights, no heating and no toilets. Someone managed to prize open the sliding door to one of the WC and there was a queue as long as the train to use it. Don't forget the flush wouldn't work without the electricity either! There were two later trains also stuck. There was no relying of information, no planning of any sort or any kind of organisation for the rescue.

Later we got told that they need to pull the last train back to Rugby, then the second train and then ours. Guess was that from Rugby they will put us on road coaches. Then the rumours came that from Rugby we will get a train to Northampton. From Northampton we will get coaches to Milton Keynes and from there a train to London. My worry was the next day. If the repairs were not expected to be completed then I would have come back home. I had to come back Friday night in any circumstances. There was no one who could answer any questions.

In the end I arrived in London at 9 pm.- some 11 hours after I started from home. I missed my social engagement, I missed my meeting and I missed my show.

I entered the hotel and heard a colleague say “When I came out at Heathrow the news bill boards said Tornado hits London so I thought you must have arrived!” “How dare you compare me to a Tornado” I said. "If I wasn't tired by travelling round the country I would thump you" I said.

Luckily Friday meeting was not too bad. Many train services were still disrupted so most trains were full. When they announced Manchester train was on the platform there was a stampede. I joined everyone else in a game of running over other people's toes with the wheels of your suitcase and poking everyone with your brolly. Isn't it amazing how your goodwill and manners get thrown out when it comes to your survival? If you don't then you get left behind to suffer.